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Question: How can I take good shots of fireworks using a Nikon D40!. What setting should I use!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Set it on manual, with a low ISO!. Put your camera on a tripod, aimed towards the bursts!. Set focus for manual, on or near infinity, depending on how far away the fireworks are!. Set your aperture small (larger numbers, f8 or above)!. Hold the shutter for the duration of the blasts!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The trick is to get the most exposure to light as possible to get the full effect of the fireworks!. I would recommend using a high ISO film or setting on your camera to begin with!. I would also set to a low aperture value and set the shutter speed between 1/10 of a second to 1 second!. Slower then this and the picture might be under-exposed!. Higher than this and you might like a streaking effect from the falling fireworks which might be cool!. In addition, I would very serious recommend the timer setting, and tripod or something stable!.

Mike T!.
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After studying maybe 100 other people's examples on Flickr, I decided to just use the average setting that I found!. Works every time!.

ISO 200 or 400; aperture f/2!.8; speed 2 seconds; focal length - whatever it takes; prefocus using manual focus; use a tripod; use a remote release if you have one, otherwise, hold the shutter button in for the entire 2 seconds to minimize camera shake!. If you go to f/8 or so, it will be more forgiving as far as presetting the focus and you will still get a decent image!.

http://www!.flickr!.com/photos/samfeinstei!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Do what everyone above says, but also make sure you find a good location!. Find out exactly where the fireworks will be going off, and scope out a good spot the day before!. I was disappointed on the 4th of July when all my pictures had telephone lines in them because I didn't know where to go!. Www@QuestionHome@Com